


The Sound of Silence

by Rekall



Category: Secret Avengers
Genre: Action/Adventure, Gen, Memory Alteration, Mission Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-21
Updated: 2013-12-21
Packaged: 2018-01-05 08:42:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,814
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1091903
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rekall/pseuds/Rekall
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bobbi, Natasha, Clint and Fury are sent on a mission together to determine how well the newly formed team works together. It's a simple mission. Nothing could possibly go wrong during it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Sound of Silence

**Author's Note:**

  * For [mrasaki](https://archiveofourown.org/users/mrasaki/gifts).



The arrow landed in front of the small group of armed guards who stood in front of the gates of the compound. Before their minds registered what was going on, a non-lethal gas began hissing from the arrow and one by one the guards began dropping to the ground. The guards would be out for hours, sleeping like babies, and being none the wiser when they woke. 

"All clear." Clint's voice came clear through the comm. "Be careful in there."

"If we make a noise we'll buy you dinner," Bobbi replied as she winked at Natasha who was standing next to her. They were hidden in the shadows; near where the guards had been but downwind so none of the smoke had blown their way. They were biding their time, waiting for their turn in the operation. 

"Knock it off," Nick Fury Jr.'s voice grumbled through the comm. Although Bobbi couldn't see him, she knew he was somewhere nearby, lurking in the dark. He was patrolling the ground while Clint was their eyes up top. 

"He's a real chip off the block," Natasha teased, causing Bobbi to grin. 

Bobbi knew they should be taking things more seriously but the mission wasn't a difficult one. It was more of a training exercise than a mission. One to determine how well they worked together as a team. Get inside the compound, plant the bombs and get out before blowing the place sky high. Easy. The compound didn't even belong to one of the big threats like A.I.M or HYDRA. It was some lesser unnamed organization.

"Wanna race and bet who can get the most bombs planted?"

Natasha smiled. "You're on."

The two women darted past the unconscious guards and towards the first and largest building of the compound. Other smaller buildings were connected by underground tunnels which Bobbi and Natasha would take care of later. Reaching the door, the password they had been given worked perfectly allowing them to slip inside the building unnoticed where a hallway stretched in front of them running from left to right.

"I'll take the left, you go right," Bobbi said. 

"Don't take long."

Bobbi grinned. "I won't."

Bobbi took off at a run. She rounded a corner and came face to face with a guard but she wasn't going to let that get in his way. Without even slowing down she jumped, kicking him in the face. Bobbi then took a moment to make sure the guard was unconscious before moving on. She needed to plant the bombs before another patrol came along and found the body.

She easily found the first room. It was full of lab equipment and various samples of the experiments the organization conducted. Bobbi set the bomb under the largest table which was covered with beakers, vials and flasks. The bomb was a small thing but extremely powerful. It would destroy the entire room and a good chunk of the surrounding area.

With the bomb set, Bobbi moved on, hurrying down the stairs and through the underground tunnel to the next building. There were no alarms sounded yet which meant no one discovered the unconscious guard. It also meant that Natasha also hadn't gotten noticed either. The mission was going as smoothly as possible. 

"That's three," Natasha's smug voice said into Bobbi's ear.

"The game's not over yet."

The second bomb was set without issue and Bobbi moved on for the third. Her destination was a small, one-room building located towards the back of the compound. The tunnel was a long one and Bobbi knew she was wasting time getting there but it couldn't be overlooked. When she finally reached the end there was no lock on the door so Bobbi hurried inside, ready to set the next bomb, but what she found caused her come to a sudden stop.

"Widow, you need to see this," Bobbi said into her comm. Her voice was grim; there were some things you could never prepare for. 

The smell was overwhelming but Bobbi ignored it as she made her way into the room. There had to be someone left alive but Bobbi quickly realized there was not. The small bodies had been thrown into the room, piled on top of each other like garage and forgotten about. It was horrible. And the only question Bobbi could think of was who would do that to children.

* * *

All was quiet from Clint's perch on top of a building across the street from the compound. It was a clear night, making visibility easy. It was just so quiet. Almost too quiet. Any second Clint suspected to see a small army pour out of the compound but instead there was no sign of movement. 

A sigh escaped Clint. He wished Bobbi and Natasha would hurry up. The sooner things were done, the better. That way they could get out of there and head home. He wasn't sure why he even agreed to be on S.H.I.E.L.D's secret team. It wasn't him. He wasn't a spy. And the worst part was he couldn't even remember why he had agreed to it. 

A sudden scream caught Clint's attention. It was from someone young and it wasn't coming from the compound but rather from somewhere on the ground behind him. 

Clint knew he shouldn't leave his post. That was how S.H.I.E.L.D operated. But first and foremost Clint was an Avenger and he wasn't going to sit by while someone needed his help. If S.H.I.E.L.D wanted to fire him later for it, so be it. Helping people came first. 

Racing to the other side of the roof Clint quickly saw what the commotion was. Two men were trying to drag a young girl into a van. They had her by the arms and while she was putting up a good fight, they almost had her to the van's door. No way was Clint going to allow that to happen. The girl was not going to get in that van.

Firing an arrow, it stuck the larger of the two men causing an electric shock to travel through his body, knocking him unconscious. The other man wisely darted into the van, abandoning the girl shivering on the street. As the van sped away Clint fired another arrow with a tracer in it which struck the van just above the bumper. The van's driver would get away for the time being but they would soon track him down. First Clint had to deal with the girl. 

With a jump and a perfectly timed arrow, Clint quickly made his way down to the street and ran over to the girl who was quietly sobbing. She was dirty and wearing a dress which would have looked quite pretty when new but now it was looking used, ratty and splattered with enough dirt which would likely never come out.

"Hey, you're okay," Clint said as he knelt before her. "No one is going to hurt you now."

"I'm sorry," she cried and Clint really wasn't sure what to do to comfort her. "They warn us not to come around here or the bad men will get us. But I just wanted to find my sister. She's been missing and no one will do anything."

Clint stiffened. He had just stumbled upon something bigger than he had ever expected. It wasn't just a random kidnapping but something more was going on. If there were other victims they needed rescuing. Immediately. "Do you know where they take them?"

The girl nodded and pointed towards the compound.

* * *

Natasha surveyed the room. It was hard keeping her emotions in check. She wanted to be like Bobbi and continue to look for survivors among the piles of bodies but she had to remember the mission. S.H.I.E.L.D was counting on them to blow the compound up. That was their priority. Besides, she already knew that no survivors would be found. The children had been experimented on. They had strange markings and wounds scattered about on their bodies. Anyone alive would have been kept locked in cells, not thrown in among the dead.

"We need to go." There were still bombs which needed to be placed and they could waste anymore time. The longer they stayed, the greater chance they would be spotted. First though, she needed to get Bobbi moving.

"But there could be others. Somewhere else; kept alive. Waiting for whatever sick experiment they're to be tested on."

Natasha wanted to believe it too but she knew otherwise and shook her head. "The building was scanned before we entered. There were no signs of prisoners."

"We can't just do nothing."

"We won't." Natasha's eyes burned with fire. She would make sure the victims got their revenge. "We gather every piece of information we can find, track down the people responsible and make them pay."

Bobbi was quiet for a moment before she began to speak. "They need to suffer more than these children have."

"They will." Natasha planned on seeing to it personally. 

"Okay."

With Bobbi moving again, Natasha led the way. After their discovery, they silently agreed it would be better to stick together. Their game was long forgotten. There were now bigger things at stake. Working together meant they could watch each other backs for more unexpected surprises. Plus the sooner they got done, the sooner they could move on to making those pay who were responsible. 

One room had a pair of guards that Natasha quickly took care of while Bobbi set the bomb. The rest of the bombs were set in record time. They didn't even bother to stop to catch their breath. Soon they were heading out the door of the large building and back into the night's cool air. They were almost free through the gates, when they encountered Clint running towards them.

"We need to go back; there are kids in there."

Natasha shook her head. She hated being the one to break the bad news. "No, there's not."

Clint however wasn't listening to her. "I found a girl. She told me kidnapped children are taken here."

He made a move to shove pass them but Natasha grabbed his wrist to stop him. "No, there's not."

A look was exchanged between Clint and Bobbi which confirmed everything that neither Natasha and Bobbi wanted to say. Natasha hung her head. Although they had no idea the children there there, she couldn't help but feel they had failed them. They had been innocent. Not trained or had known they were getting into. 

Unfortunately their reunion was soon broken up. Alarms went off and from every which way guards ran out and surrounded them. Guns were pointed at them from every direction and there was nothing they could do except raise their hands and wait. 

"This is why you were supposed to be watching out backs," Natasha murmured to Clint. She didn't blame him though. She knew that Clint was always compelled to do the right thing. Besides, they still had an ace up their sleeve. 

The gunfire came from the left but it wasn't from any of the guards. It was Fury, finally making a move to save them. It startled the guards. Long enough for Natasha to press the button on the remote that was hidden in her hand. 

The bombs began to explode causing the compound's buildings to erupted with fire. It was enough of a shock to the guards that Bobbi, Natasha and Clint were able to fight their way free and make their way over to Fury who was covering for them. 

"Let's go!" Fury yelled as he continued to spray gunfire at the guards. 

Natasha saw no reason to argue. Their mission was successful but it was not yet over. Not until they found the ones responsible.

* * *

"Why are you not listening?" Bobbi argued to Coulson, while she, Clint and Natasha walked down a hallway of the Helicarrier. She almost wished she hadn't agreed to work for S.H.I.E.L.D even though she did like the job. "There was a room full of dead children. We need to find out who is responsible and put a stop to them."

"I understand and all of this will be reported to Acting-Director Hill."

"The longer we wait, the more children could be taken," Natasha said. "Blowing up their compound won't stop them. They've likely already set up shop elsewhere."

Bobbi knew Natasha was right. It was one of the reasons why she wanted to get going again so quickly. They needed to find who was responsible. They could track the van that Clint had tagged. If they were lucky, the tracker wouldn't have been discovered yet in all the chaos. Unfortunately there had been no time to retrieve the man Clint had shocked into unconsciousness so the van was the only lead they currently had.

"I understand that but there are procedures." Coulson paused his step as he turned to look at the three of them. "We can't just send a team out. Especially not the three of you. We need time for planning. We need to know who we're up against."

"Screw it," Clint said as he turned around and began heading back the way they had came from. Bobbi didn't blame him. She felt like doing the same. "The three of us will handle if ourselves. On our own."

Bobbi was in. She glanced at Natasha and Bobbi could tell that she was in as well. The three of them were in agreement. They couldn't let it go. Not until the entire organization was gone and any children rescued.

"You're not authorize for that," Coulson warned. "Let me talk to Hill."

"Too late," Clint said. They all could tell that he really didn't care. "It's an Avengers matter now."

Bobbi took a step and then felt her legs crumble beneath her, causing her to fall to the floor. Looking at Clint and Natasha she found them in the same state and before she could even speak, her mind went black.

REDACTED

* * *

"I can't help but think I'm forgetting something," Clint said to Natasha and Bobbi. They were in an empty conference room eating and relaxing after their mission. After a successful mission together it was only right that S.H.I.E.L.D feed them before dropping them back off in the city. 

Natasha smiled. "That is the nature of our job. The whole, do a mission and have our minds wiped thing."

Clint knew that. Even if he still didn't understand why he agreed to it. "Yeah, but I get the feeling this was something important."

"You don't have another concussion, do you?" Bobbi asked.

"No." Clint paused as he thought about it. "At least I don't think so."

Natasha shrugged as she took another bite of her food. "I'm sure if it's that important, you'll eventually remember it. After all it can't be about the mission. That went off flawlessly."

Clint had to admit she was right about that. The compound they were sent to destroy had been blown up without any incidents. The three of them and Fury had worked together perfectly. The mission had gone smoothly. 

"Yeah, I guess so." He really didn't quite feel convinced though. There was still a nagging that he couldn't figure out. And the only thing he could think of was it being related to their work.

Clint stared down at his food. His appetite had vanished. It was bugging him too much but trying to remember what was wrong wasn't work. It had to be S.H.I.E.L.D related.

"I got it," Bobbi said, snapping her fingers. "You're out of coffee, milk and dog food. You told me to remind you so you could pick them up on your way home."

Now that she mentioned it, Clint did remember telling her that. It had been before they left on the mission. While they were waiting to be dropped off. That had to be it. 

"Thanks," Clint said. He felt a lot better. "Now I feel stupid for being upset over something so minor."

"Don't worry, we're use to it," Natasha said with a laugh. 

"Trust us, it's normal for you," Bobbi added.

Clint let them laugh. He knew he couldn't ask for better friends. Feeling relaxed, he returned his attention back to his food. He should have known better than to doubt S.H.I.E.L.D. After all he wouldn't be working for S.H.I.E.L.D if he didn't trust them. He still didn't like the memory wipe thing but he could live with it. It wasn't like S.H.I.E.L.D would ever make him forget something truly important.


End file.
